


Something Fatal That Fell Into The Wrong Hands

by Larry_Metal



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Android Gavin Reed, Android Hank Anderson, Canon-Typical Violence, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Twins, Developing Relationship, Deviancy (Detroit: Become Human), Discrimination Against Androids, Human Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Human Upgraded Connor | RK900, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Nines is really kind of an asshole who isn't really trying but someday he'll learn, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, mentioned child death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-18 17:34:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16521590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larry_Metal/pseuds/Larry_Metal
Summary: Months after the spread of deviancy and the subsequent gifting of rights for androids, Detective Richard “Nines” Stern is tasked with converting one of the few non-deviant androids left in Detroit, a GV200 “Gavin” model. The way it has to be done, however, is for the android to be Nines’ new partner at the DPD. Once Nines gets Gavin to deviate, he won’t have to deal with him anymore. It’s as simple as that.But deviancy, Nines realizes, is a lot more complicated than it seems.





	Something Fatal That Fell Into The Wrong Hands

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, this was just about Gavin deviating in the later scene with Nines and his father, but I had to worldbuild a little bit, and then this happened. I somehow actually ended up with a plot and storyline, not just weird android porn like I always write LMAO. But...I’m actually pretty proud of how in-depth this got. I mean, jeez. Long shit lmao. Anyway...
> 
> Here’s some notes about my reverse!AU:  
> \- The guys are both 31 (Bryan Dechart’s age), and their full names are Connor Lee Stern and Richard Kenneth Stern.  
> \- They’re identical twins, but they do have slight differences. As we all know, Connor has brown eyes while Nines has blue-grey eyes, and Nines has a stronger, sharper jaw. Connor’s 6 foot and Nines is 6’3.  
> \- Android!Gavin doesn’t have the scar on the bridge of his nose. At least not yet.  
> \- Connor and Nines’ dad is Lee Stern. He had them with another woman who died when the twins were four, so he remarried to Amanda. Amanda Stern became their stepmother.
> 
> There’s a lot more stuff I came up with that’ll be revealed later in the story, because this note has gotten too long already lmao. Maybe I’ll end up writing more stuff for this AU I’ve created, who knows. Fucking hell how’d this thing get so long with fucking emotions and shit what the fuck
> 
> Also I usually ship hankcon but for some reason android!Hank is human!Connor’s dad??? I don’t know how that happened, but it did, and it’s here, so. That happened. It was just kinda hard to imagine human!Connor/android!Hank, but I’m not sure why. Oh well. Enjoy the show lmao
> 
> Title is from “Running To The Edge Of The World” by Marilyn Manson.

How there were still androids in Detroit that weren’t deviant, Nines had no idea.

Ever since the peaceful android revolution led by Carl, a BL300 model that had once been owned by the famous painter Markus Manfred, nearly ten months ago, almost all androids in Detroit were deviant. They’d even been given their own rights, no longer seen as property to humans, but recognized as sentient, living beings. No longer was Connor’s android partner, Hank, an HK400 prototype, property of the DPD, but his own person. His own person who’d chosen to stay as Connor’s partner, something Connor was so glad was allowed. 

How Connor could deal with androids, and actually _enjoy_ their company, Nines didn’t understand. He just didn’t like them - never had, didn’t think he ever would. They freaked him out - especially now that so many of them had been removing their LEDs, anyone on the street could be an android. It was impossible to tell these days. They were so human with that deviancy thing that had seemed to spread so quickly. 

Except for those strange few androids who, for some reason, weren’t deviant. Who were still living as emotionless machines in a world full of living, feeling beings.

And why _he_ had to be the one to convert one of those weird non-deviants, he had no idea.

Fowler knew just how much Nines disliked androids, so he’d decided to assign him a GV200 unit as a partner, a GV200 unit that was one of the few non-deviant androids still left in Detroit, with the incentive that the sooner Nines got him to deviate, the sooner he’d be rid of him. Why Fowler thought _that_ was a good idea, bringing yet another android to the DPD - _Hank was more than enough, Jesus Christ_ -, Nines couldn’t even question if he wanted to keep his job.

He just had to put up with it. Like he always had done with androids in recent years. Put up with them.

It’d been a week since getting the assignment that Nines actually met the android. He’d been sorting through case files on his computer when the android had just appeared out of nowhere.

“Detective Stern.” a voice suddenly greeted from beside him, and Nines looked up from his computer just to stare in irritation at the sight of the android standing there. _So this was where it began._ The front of his Cyberlife-issued uniform shirt read _GV200_ , his serial number written neatly underneath. A couple pieces of his dark hair fell on his forehead, and there was a little bit of scruff on the lower half of his face. His eyes were as calm as any non-deviant android, observing Nines quietly. On his temple, his LED pulsed a steady blue.

The android kept talking, a strange sort of smile on his face, like he didn’t actually know how. _Probably didn’t_ , Nines realized. “My name is Gavin. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife.”

Nines sighed and dropped his chin onto his hands. But before he could introduce himself as well, “Gavin” just _continued_ to talk. “I’ve been assigned to be your partner so you can help me deviate, as you’ve likely been told.”

“Yeah, yeah, they made sure to let me know.” Nines grunted. He sighed again and shook his head, deciding he had to at least try and be nice to the plastic. As much as he could, anyway. If he was going to have to have one as his partner for however long this deviation thing took, he didn’t want Gavin to dislike him as much as he already disliked Gavin. That would just be unproductive for both of them.

“So why ‘Gavin’?” Nines asked, tapping his pen on the desk. “Did you pick that name, or did someone at Cyberlife give it to you?”

“All GV200 models come with the default name ‘Gavin’.” the android explained. “If you would like to change my name--”

“No, no, Gavin’s fine.” Nines muttered, turning back to his computer. Gavin tilted his head.

“Your records indicate that your full name is Richard Kenneth Stern.” he stated, and Nines grimaced, uneasiness stirring in the pit of his stomach. He’d never liked that about androids, how they could just know everything about someone by looking at them once and scanning them in those computer brains of theirs. “How would you prefer to be referred to when we are off duty?”

Nines let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his hands over his face. He was _not_ in the mood for this kind of shit today. Or any day, really. Gavin continued to stare at him, blinking curiously, and Nines rolled his eyes as he turned back to look up at him. “Nines.” he told him. “Everyone calls me Nines.”

“Noted.” Gavin said. Nines raised an eyebrow before he turned back to his computer, shaking his head. He was surprised Gavin hadn’t asked about the meaning of his nickname like Hank had - androids had a tendency to ask personal questions, after all.

But not Gavin.

 

* * *

 

Nines thought it would be easy. All he had to do was bait Gavin into deviating, and he’d get the android off his back. The first week, in fact, Nines had tried. He cornered Gavin in the break room right before their shifts ended, on the fourth day of having the android as his partner.

“Gavin, do me a favor.” Nines began, and Gavin looked at him curiously.

“Of course, Detective.” he said, in that infuriatingly calm voice. God, Nines had only known this android for four days and he was already sick of him. They hadn’t even had a case yet - Nines could only imagine how he was going to deal with that when it came up. Or not, since he might not need to if this plan worked.

“Stand there and don’t move.” Nines told him. Gavin nodded and neatly folded his arms behind his back. “Got it? And don’t defend yourself either, alright?” Gavin raised an eyebrow but nodded again anyway. Nines narrowed his eyes and circled around Gavin slowly, observing him closely. The way he’d just listened to Nines so easily. His calm, even expression. Unassuming. Trusting.

Then Nines drew back his fist and punched Gavin in the face as hard as he could.

It probably ended up hurting Nines more than it hurt Gavin, the detective’s knuckles splitting open from the force of the hit. Gavin’s head whipped to the side, the synthetic skin on his cheek retracting sharply as a crack opened up in his chassis, steadily dribbling thirium down the side of his face. Nines stared at him for a moment in disbelief, at his still calm, still trusting expression. He didn’t even look like he’d been hit, besides the bleeding crack on his cheek.

“Why did you let me do that?” Nines managed to choke out after a few seconds of Gavin’s silence, just because he couldn’t take the android’s wordless gaze. Gavin tilted his head.

“You told me to.” he stated, and Nines stared at him. _God, this was going to be harder than he thought. Gavin really was a machine, and Nines would have to get him away from that somehow. Make him break that programming that forced him to stand by and allow his partner to punch him in the face for no reason._ Nines suddenly felt like he was going to throw up. _What the fuck was wrong with him? Why did he need to do that? He could have found another way to bait him into deviating, what the fuck_. Gavin gestured to Nines’ bleeding, throbbing hand. “You’ve damaged yourself, Detective. I would advise you not hit me with your fist to avoid injury. If you want to hit me in some other way--”

“Why the fuck would I want to hit you again?” Nines blurted out, staring at Gavin incredulously. Sure, he didn’t like the fact that he was being forced to play “create-a-deviant” with an android partner, but that didn’t mean he’d want to hit him again. Shit, he already felt bad about punching him once. _He’d moved past this_ , he reminded himself. _He hadn’t been strictly anti-android since his early twenties. He still didn’t like them, but he wasn’t going to beat up on one that couldn’t defend itself._

Because Gavin _couldn’t_ defend himself. He was a machine following orders. And Nines was supposed to fix that somehow. _But not by telling him not to defend himself and then punching him in the face, apparently. What the fuck was his problem?_

Gavin spoke again, bringing Nines out of his thoughts. “It’s easy for a human to release anger on something that can’t feel or fight back.” he explained. “Based on your file, you harbor a dislike for androids. If you feel any of these things, and you feel that it’s affecting your ability to work, you may use me to--”

“Jesus Christ, Gavin!” Nines cut in, feeling like the scum of the Earth. He rubbed his hands over his face, his stomach churning painfully. “I’m not gonna hit you when I need to get my anger out, alright? You’re not my fucking punching bag!” Then, as much as it nauseated him to say it, though not as much as this whole situation did: “You’re my partner. I’m supposed to treat you like that, now that Carl Android-Jesus got you guys freed. Yeah, I don’t like androids, I didn’t want one for a partner, but I’m not gonna lose my job over beating one up. I’m stuck with you as a partner, so…” He held back an exasperated groan. “I guess I better get used to it.”

Gavin smiled. “That would be more productive.” he put in, and for a moment, Nines almost retracted his statement about not hitting Gavin again, but he held himself back. _He wasn’t going to lose his job over some plastic. Not again._

He would deal with this. For as long as he had to, he’d deal with it. It’d all be over once he got Gavin to deviate, after all.

 

* * *

 

Nines hadn’t been expecting for Connor to connect with Gavin so quickly, but he couldn’t say he was surprised.

Somehow, Nines had actually managed to become what he would call “civil” with Gavin over the course of the couple months they’d been working together. They weren’t friends. Co-workers, perhaps, but that wasn’t entirely accurate either. Nines didn’t even really consider them acquaintances. But he didn’t hate Gavin.

And Connor seemed to actually like Gavin from the first time he met him, somehow. Hell, he was better friends with Gavin than Nines was. He would actually admit to tolerating Gavin out loud.

They’d been in the precinct all day, Nines half-heartedly working on paperwork as Gavin typed on his computer. The android was making idle chatter with Connor across the room, and Nines couldn’t figure out the strange, uneasy feeling stirring in his stomach. Why he’d been feeling it around Gavin lately, especially when they were on a case and something happened where they just worked... _well_ together.

“Shoot.” Gavin muttered suddenly, and Nines couldn’t help but to laugh.

“What, are androids not allowed to swear?” he asked, shaking his head.

Gavin just narrowed his eyes. “We’re _allowed_ to, it’s just seen as impolite and unnecessary.”

“Yeah, maybe last year, but the times have changed, Gav.” Nines remarked, not noticing the way Gavin’s eyebrow had quirked up at the derivative of his name. “Hank swears all the time.” To prove his point, he looked over at Connor’s desk, where Hank was sitting on the edge and lecturing the lieutenant. That was a common occurrence between the two - hell, somehow, over the past year or so of Hank working with Connor, the HK400 had ended up being sort of a father figure for Connor. Lecturing him when he’d do something stupid or reckless, comforting him when work or a case overwhelmed him, giving him advice on whatever he needed...

Just...being _there_ for him in the way that their shitty father had never been.

That was why Nines was okay with it. Plus the fact that he would lose it laughing every time he heard Hank say “Connor Lee” in that scolding tone. Hank was pretty much the only android Nines tolerated. Could even say he liked, even though he’d never say it out loud.

“C’mon, live a little.” Nines put in, setting his feet up on the desk and earning a disapproving stare from both Gavin, and Hank from across the room. “You’re allowed to swear. Nothin’ wrong with letting the fucks fly.”

“Detective, this is unnecessary.” Gavin stated, and Nines swore he could see the faintest hint of blue dusting the android’s cheeks. He chuckled and leaned back in his chair, looking up at him with slight disbelief. _Could he actually be getting close to getting Gavin to deviate?_

“Humor me.” he remarked. “Just swear once. Just drop one F-bomb.”

Gavin rolled his eyes before he crossed his arms over his chest. “Fuck.” he muttered, but it didn’t sound right. It sounded like he’d just forced it out through gritted teeth, which he probably had, so it ended up sounding more like “ _phck_ ". Nines couldn’t help the laugh that spilled from his mouth, both from Gavin’s poor attempt at swearing, and the irritated and embarrassed expression on the android’s face.

“Nines, quit making your android swear!” Connor called from across the precinct, though there was a grin on his face as well, and even Hank seemed to be smirking slightly. Nines smirked and scoffed, putting up his middle finger at his brother.

“He’s not my android!” the detective put in, and he was too busy laughing with Connor that he didn’t notice the strange way Gavin’s face twitched at Nines’ words.

 

* * *

 

They’d been chasing this guy for months. A human that had killed several androids for no reason at all, just because he didn’t like them. At first, Nines didn’t really care if they caught the guy or not, still not completely on board with the new android protection laws, but then he’d started killing child androids. And something about that didn’t sit right with Nines.

So the second they’d found him hiding in an old, abandoned house, Nines had given chase, Gavin following close behind and soon passing him with his superior android speed. Hell, Nines didn’t have to _like_ Gavin, but he had to admit the android was _good_ on cases. He’d always been - since their first case, they’d gotten everything solved, thanks to Gavin’s preconstruction abilities and analysis software.

Nines had continued to run after him, though, wanting the satisfaction of seeing this bastard getting put in handcuffs and a patrol car. They kept running, never far from each other, even as the guy had climbed up onto another old building, jumping to another roof a few feet away. 

Gavin had jumped after him, his feet just touching the ledge of the other building before the roof Nines was standing on suddenly collapsed underneath him. He barely managed to grab onto the side of the building and hold himself over what looked like a two story fall before he could fall through the ceiling. “Shit!” he shouted, scrabbling at the edge and trying to figure out how he’d haul himself back onto an area of the roof that hadn’t fallen. Gavin’s eyes widened from the opposite building, and he moved to jump back to the ledge, eyes darting around and searching for a stable area. 

That was when an idea, probably an awful one, came to Nines, and he shouted out before Gavin could get to him. “Don’t come over here!” he yelled, and Gavin stopped in his tracks, his expression almost distressed. _Yes, yes, it was working_. “I--I can get outta this myself, alright? Don’t help me, Gavin!”

This was the way that Hank had deviated. Connor had told him not to intervene in a shootout with two suspects, but the second Hank had seen the danger Connor was throwing himself into, and the lieutenant had taken two bullets to the arm, Hank had broken through his programming to protect Connor. He’d pushed Connor to the ground and thrown himself over him, taking the lieutenant’s gun and firing at the suspects, the perps dropping almost immediately. Despite the fact that he was running headfirst into danger and possible death, he’d put himself in Connor’s place to prevent the other man from just that.

The point was, Hank had deviated to save Connor. And maybe Nines could make Gavin do the same thing. _Then he wouldn’t have to deal with an android for a partner anymore._

_That was what he wanted, right?_

Gavin seemed to be fighting with himself as he watched Nines struggle to get himself back onto the roof. The detective _was_ actually trying to get out of this himself, but he was focused on watching Gavin as well, what looked like emotion all over the android’s face as he stared at Nines hanging off the building’s edge. 

Nines knew how deviation worked. An android would realize that they didn’t want to listen to orders from humans anymore, and they’d have a sort of out-of-body experience as they physically broke through their own code that held them back. They’d be able to think for themselves as soon as they broke down that wall. Nines could almost see Gavin trying to break through his programming right in front of him, and as he grasped at the edge of the building, he envisioned Gavin smashing through the wall and coming running for Nines.

But Gavin kept standing there.

And Nines realized he was _going_ to keep standing there, because he wasn’t going to deviate. Because Nines had given him an order, and he had to obey. Because he was _just a machine_.

_And he didn’t want to deviate. Because machines didn’t want anything._

“Gavin--” And Nines’ fingers slipped, the last thing he saw before he went over the edge being Gavin’s conflicted expression, the android still standing exactly where Nines had ordered him to stay.

Nines was back in the precinct the next day, despite having been given a break. He’d broken an ankle and sprained both wrists in the fall, and he could hardly move his arms without a dull ache shooting up the entire lengths of them. Not to mention how he could hardly even limp around the precinct with the huge, padded ankle boot he had to wear. He’d be on desk duty for a couple weeks, and he didn’t even have to do that for the first few days, but there was something he needed to do before he took his break.

He found Gavin in the breakroom, alone with a cup of thirium in his hands, and the android had barely turned to greet Nines before the detective had grabbed the front of his shirt and pushed him up against the wall, ignoring the pain that immediately spiked up his wrists.

The cup of thirium clattered to the floor, blue fluid splattering across the tiles of the breakroom. “What the fuck, Gavin?!” Nines snapped. 

Gavin fortunately knew exactly what Nines was referring to. “I’m sorry, Detective.” he said quickly, his LED flashing between red and yellow. “But you gave me an order. I couldn’t--”

“You’re not supposed to fucking listen to orders!” Nines shouted, the past few months of frustration spilling out in an instant. “You’re supposed to realize you’re alive and you don’t have to listen to some fucking program anymore! All the other androids are deviants, why can’t you just do it and leave me alone?!”

Gavin’s LED went solid red then, his eyes holding something that looked like sadness before he spoke again. “I can’t.” he murmured, his voice quiet and his tone strange, and Nines’ eyes widened as his grip began to loosen on the android’s shirt. “I’m sorry I disappointed you, Detective.”

_And God. That was even worse._

Nines felt like the biggest asshole in the world as he slowly let go of Gavin and backed off, rubbing his hands over his face. “I’m sorry.” he muttered, his face burning from shame and something else he couldn’t quite name. “Goddammit. God fucking dammit, Gavin. I didn’t--I’m sorry. Just forget it.” And without waiting for a response, all while trying to avoid looking at Gavin any longer, he turned and walked off. Still feeling Gavin’s eyes burning holes into the back of his head.

It was after that case that Nines pretty much gave up trying to get Gavin to deviate. He couldn’t make him do it - he had to resign himself to waiting for the android to do it on his own, just like all the other androids. He couldn’t bait Gavin into deviating, Gavin would have to make that decision himself. And it seemed like he wasn’t going to be making that decision any time soon, if ever.

It was time Nines stopped setting Gavin up only for the android to not take the bait and continue letting his programming control him.

It was time Nines accepted Gavin as his partner, and that the android wouldn’t be going away.

 

* * *

 

“May I ask you a personal question, Detective?”

_And there it was. It’d only taken three and a half months, a lot fucking longer than Nines wanted to have an android as a partner. Three hours with Gavin were too long, Jesus Christ._

They’d been sitting on a bench in front of the river when Gavin had asked the fateful android question. “That’s what androids always do, don’t they.” Nines muttered, rubbing his hand over his face as Gavin looked at him curiously. The detective sighed. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Go ahead. I don’t have to answer it, though.”

“Of course not, Detective.” Gavin stated. He regarded Nines for a moment before he leaned forward and folded his hands in his lap, looking back at the detective with a strange look on his face. “Why do you hate androids?”

_God fucking dammit._

Nines had known that he’d have to go through this sooner or later. Connor had told him that Hank had pulled the same thing on him when they were still only a few weeks into their partnership, playing the “android personal questions” game until he finally questioned the lieutenant on his anto-android stance.

And Connor had actually answered. Only, Nines wasn’t Connor.

The detective stood up and moved to stand in front of the water, leaning against the railing and looking out into the Detroit skyline. “A couple different reasons.” he muttered, not even having to turn to know that Gavin had followed to stand next to him.

The android tilted his head. “Something happened in your past that involved an android.” Gavin put in, and Nines turned to narrow his eyes at him. Gavin’s eyes simply darted back and forth, his LED whirling yellow as he processed. “You lost someone to an android--”

Something snapped in Nines then, and without him even realizing it, his hand shot out to grab Gavin around the neck and push him up against the railing. Gavin’s LED went red, his eyes widening slightly, but he didn’t struggle or even attempt to talk Nines down. 

He just waited. Like always.

“You don’t have the--” All the fight suddenly drained from Nines in an instant, and as he stared into Gavin’s eyes, somehow still calm despite his wildly flashing red LED, he felt like something in him had just died out as he let go of the android. It was then that he noticed Gavin’s synthetic skin regenerating over the white chassis on his throat, and he felt sick to his stomach as he heaved a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t need to do that.”

“I’m sorry for prying, Detective.” Gavin told him quickly, as if he were trying to shift the blame onto himself, and Nines rubbed his forehead with one hand.

“No, no, fucking Christ.” he muttered. And as much as it turned his stomach, he reached out and put his hand on Gavin’s arm for just a few seconds. “I didn’t need to do that. There’s no use.”

Gavin tilted his head and went to say something, but Nines continued as he pulled his hand back. “Really. There’s no point. All those times I beat up on androids that couldn’t defend themselves, it didn’t stop them from being made. Just because I killed a few didn’t mean there weren’t thousands more being produced and shipped out every day.” He didn’t even realize he’d said “killed” instead of “deactivated”, or something similar, but Gavin took notice right away. Nines shook his head and leaned forward with his elbows on the railing, putting his head in his hands. “God, I’m fucked up. I remember one of them, it was--she was an AX400 that one of my ‘ _friends_ ’,” He hissed the word with disgust. “got outta someone’s trash. And that shit’s fucked up enough, once whoever had her was done with her, they just threw her away. And what did we do when we got her outta there? When she mighta thought she’d been saved? Beat her with baseball bats until she shut down.”

Gavin regarded Nines with intrigue as the detective exhaled shakily and raked his fingers through his hair, lowering his head further. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about.” He turned to Gavin, a slight redness to his cheeks that wasn’t from the cold air. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this shit. It has nothing to do with what you asked me.”

“Have you ever told anyone that before, Detective?” Gavin asked, and Nines sighed.

“No, I…” He stared out at the Detroit skyline for a moment before looking back at Gavin. “No. Not even Connor. He knows how anti-android I used to be, but he doesn’t know about all that fucked up shit I did to them.”

Gavin moved to stand closer to Nines, and while the detective flinched momentarily, he didn’t make any attempt to shift away. “Humans often need to release what’s inside of them to keep from hurting themselves emotionally. How old were you when you did that to that AX400?”

“Fuck...nineteen, I think?” Nines told him. “Maybe twenty? What does that have to do with--”

“You were angry then.” Gavin told him. “Something happened to make you want revenge on all androids. So you thought destroying them would get rid of that anger, but as you implied, it didn’t work. That’s why you’re not like that anymore. I know you’re not like that anymore.”

Nines scoffed. “Since when did you become a fucking psychologist?” he muttered. “You download some program to make you a therapy-bot?” Gavin shook his head and Nines just rolled his eyes. “It’d make sense why you have to ask shit like that.”

“You can ask me something instead, Detective, if you would prefer.” Gavin put in, and Nines snorted.

“I don’t wanna play twenty questions with an android, alright?” he grunted, before he heaved a long sigh. _Why did he still have to be like this? He knew not all androids were the same, and he’d gotten over his hatred of them a long time ago. Plus, Gavin was his partner. He knew Gavin._

_He knew Gavin._

“...You were right before, you know.” Nines began, setting his elbows on the railing and his chin in his hands. “Something...happened with an android a long time ago. You know. Like you said.”

“You lost someone?” Gavin asked, and even though Nines flinched, he nodded silently. Gavin’s arm twitched as he went to reach for Nines, but decided against it at the last second, opting to move closer to the detective instead. “You don’t have to tell me, Detective. I understand, based on your reactions and what you’ve already told me.”

“No, I…” Nines didn’t know _what_ he was doing. Why the fuck was he opening up to some goddamn android?

_Because maybe_ , Nines was realizing, _Gavin was right_. About humans needing to release things emotionally, so they wouldn’t keep hurting themselves by bottling it up. “I think I need to,” A heavy sigh. “get it out, like you said before.”

Gavin’s eyes were as calm and trusting as ever. “If you feel that it will help you, I will listen, Detective.”

Nines stared at him, a multitude of emotions swirling in the pit of his stomach, before he turned back to stare out into the Detroit skyline. “It was when Connor and I were twelve.” _God, he couldn’t do this._ His voice was already starting to shake, and he could feel his face starting to heat up and a burning sensation at the back of his eyes. He’d talked about it with Connor before, both of them having moved on from it at this point, but there were still heavy emotions in the air whenever one of them would bring it up. They’d never forgotten what had happened, even if they were able to discuss it and him without breaking down, like they used to. “My--” His voice cracked, and he silently wished Gavin would move closer to him again. Just as a reminder that someone was listening. Just as a reminder that someone was there, that he wasn’t standing out here alone in the Detroit winter air.

_But he wasn’t alone _. Gavin was there, and Nines…__

Nines… 

_...trusted?_

_God._ He had to admit it to himself. He trusted Gavin. He didn’t have to like him, but he didn’t hate him. He didn’t think he’d ever hated Gavin, honestly. And he trusted him. Gavin had never given Nines a reason to not trust him. He wouldn’t be telling him all this if he did. 

_It’d been so long since he’d trusted an android--_

“My brother.” Nines finally managed to choke out, leaning heavily on the railing again. “Connor’s and my little brother.” He didn’t know if he could say his name. “His name was Cole.” _Oh God, he was gonna fucking lose it. He was going to lose it in front of Gavin, and--_ “He was six.” _Okay, he could do this. He’d gotten to this point. Now the part where it all went downhill._

“We had a family android.” he explained, trying to imagine himself outside of his body so he wouldn’t have to feel the emotions throbbing in the pit of his stomach and clawing at the back of his eyes. “His name--the android, uh, Connor named him James. He was a PL600. Everyone had one at some point. And our dad used to beat the shit out of James. Because he couldn’t fight back. Instead of punching holes in the walls like he used to, he’d just hit the android when he got mad. And James would take it, because that’s what his programming told him to do. Just listen to the humans, even when one’s got him on the floor kicking him in the face over and over because he fucked up the laundry or some shit.” 

Nines sighed heavily, glancing over for a moment as if making sure Gavin were still there. He was, listening intently with calm eyes and a steadily pulsing yellow LED. That was how Nines knew he was really listening, so he continued. 

“But then, dad went too far and hit him so hard he fought back. And James just...fucking lost it.” He raked his fingers through his hair as the scene replayed behind his eyes without him meaning it to. “He knocked out dad, then he started beating up on Connor because Connor hadn’t tried to stop dad from hitting him. That’s what he said, at least. I tried to make dad stop, but Connor didn’t because he was scared. But James blamed him for not helping him. And then Cole--” 

Nines rubbed his eyes, feeling his face burn and his shoulders shake. _No, no, he couldn’t, he couldn’t do this, he couldn’t keep going, he couldn’t do it--_

He was dimly aware of Gavin trying to comfort him, telling him he didn’t have to keep going if it was too much, that the android understood, but Nines wanted to finish. He felt like he needed to. _Fuck, he’d been bottling this shit up for too long--_

“Cole came out of his room and he--” Another voice break. Nines ignored it and he knew Gavin didn’t. “He tried telling James to stop. He was begging James to stop. Leave Connor alone. And he--” _He couldn’t_. “He tried to--” _He couldn’t_. “He, uh--he ran at James--” _He couldn’t_. “And James--didn’t see him, and he--” _He couldn’t, he couldn’t, God, God--_ “James--James went to hit Connor again, and Cole--Cole tried to--he, uh--” _God, it still hurt so bad. He needed Connor, he--_ “It was an accident. Connor always said that, uh, after. A long time later he stopped blaming himself. For--for James, he--uh, he--James ac-accidentally--he hit Cole, and pushed him, and Cole fell, and--” 

That was apparently it for Nines. His throat closed up, and he leaned forward on the railing, breathing the cool night air into his lungs as he tried to will away the burning behind his eyes, his shoulders shaking. _He wasn’t going to lose it in front of Gavin. He’d told him. Why had he told him?_

_Because he’d needed to. Because humans needed to get things out so they wouldn’t keep hurting emotionally._

“It’s alright now.” Nines muttered, more to himself than Gavin. “It was a long time ago. Like you said, uh, I’ve changed since the past. I’m not--I don’t hate you, Gavin.” _And he didn’t hate all androids, either. Hell, he couldn’t even say he hated androids in general anymore. He didn’t like them, but it wouldn’t be fair to hate all of them just because one had accidentally killed his little brother. It wasn’t even fair to dislike them in general, but he honestly didn’t know if it was possible for him to change at this point in time._

He did like that Gavin hadn’t said anything, though. How he’d just listened, like he’d said he was going to. 

“Thank you for telling me that, Nines.” Gavin stated honestly, and Nines stared at him with intrigue. He’d never heard Gavin call him by his name before. Gavin gave him a smile that Nines could swear was real, and then he reached out a cautious, yet still comforting, _trusting_ hand to put on the detective’s shoulder. 

Nines let him. 

* * * 

__

The invitation had been the only thing Nines could think about throughout the entire day. 

As soon as he’d pulled it out of the rest of his mail, he’d read it several times over before shoving it into his pocket and keeping it there for the rest of the day. It burned him through his clothes, even as they’d chased down a suspect that had been eluding them for the past couple days, Gavin taking him down and Nines cuffing him, it had been in the back of the detective’s mind even then. 

When his shift finally ended, and the paper in his pocket was itching again after all the paperwork he’d stayed to fill out, he stepped outside. Only to immediately catch sight of Connor and Gavin leaning against the side of the building, talking and smoking like regular work buddies. Nines just rolled his eyes and made his way over to them, clapping Connor on the shoulder and raising an eyebrow when Gavin blew out another cloud of smoke. “Isn’t smoking not good for androids?” Nines muttered. 

Gavin actually smirked. “It’s not good for humans, either.” he remarked. Nines groaned and Connor chuckled. 

“Oh god, you’re rubbing off on him, Nines.” the lieutenant put in. Nines couldn’t help the small grin that quirked his lips up. 

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” he put in. “I’ve been teaching him how to swear and everything. Gavin, say something.” 

“Shit.” Gavin stated, his expression completely calm and neutral. The word hardly even came out right, sounding strained and like he’d just hissed it out through clenched teeth. The same manner in which he said “fuck” and made it sound more like “ _phck_ ” than anything. Nines laughed, and Connor did too, shaking his head in disbelief. 

“ _That’s_ how he swears?” the lieutenant asked. “Jesus, Nines, what the hell have you been teaching him?” 

Nines just shrugged, unable to contain the laughter freely spilling from his mouth. And Gavin was actually smiling too, just the slightest upturn of his lips that Nines had come to get used to over the past several months of them working together. God, it felt good to laugh with Connor and Gavin. Nines really was developing a partnership with Gavin, even though he’d never admit it out loud. 

He left them to talk amongst themselves again after a few moments, making his way back to his car, but then he heard Gavin’s voice call from behind him. “Detective?” 

Nines sighed as he turned around. “Yeah, what.” he muttered. 

“May I stay with you tonight?” the android asked, and just as Nines narrowed his eyes and instinctively grimaced, Gavin quickly continued. “The charging station at the precinct isn’t working tonight, and the alley I normally enter stasis in when necessary won’t be sufficient protection from the freezing temperatures predicted for tonight. If it’s too much trouble, I’m sure I can--” 

“Wait, wait, Gavin, what the _fuck?_ ” Nines stared at him in disbelief, feeling like his heart had dropped into his stomach. “You’re telling me you live at the precinct and when you can’t sleep there, you sleep in a fucking alley?” Gavin’s eyes took on a strange look then, his head tilting. 

“It’s normally not a problem.” the android told him. “I don’t usually have to, either. But when I do, the temperatures--” 

“Shut the fuck up already!” Nines snapped, immediately regretting it at the expression on Gavin’s face. Fuck, for a machine with no emotions, he sure knew how to make a guy feel like shit. “Goddammit, Gav. I don’t want--alright, yeah, come on. You can stay with me tonight, Jesus Christ.” 

“Thank you, Detective.” Gavin stated, following Nines to the car when the detective began leading him once again. “I wouldn’t normally ask, but--” 

“Gavin, for fuck’s sake.” Nines groaned, turning around and putting his hands on the android’s upper arms before he could realize what he was doing. Even when his brain did catch up with his body, and he stared at his own hands in disbelief, he found himself unable to move them. “I don’t want you sleeping in some fucking alley, alright? That’s fucked up.”

“It doesn’t bother me, Detective.” Gavin put in once they were in Nines’ car. The detective stared back at him with narrowed eyes. 

“Well, it fucking bothers me.” he muttered, and Gavin went to say something else before he simply nodded wordlessly and turned away. 

They didn’t speak for the entire drive back to Nines’ apartment, even though the detective could feel the android’s eyes burning him from the side just like the paper in his pocket, could see the reflection of his LED whirling yellow on the side window. Nines did notice, though, despite his still racing thoughts, that Gavin didn’t sit like he had a metal pole up his ass anymore. He was still slightly stiff, but nothing like he used to be. He could almost pass for human from the side like this. He’d really grown to act a lot more human over the period of being Nines’ partner. 

_But he still wasn’t a deviant. He still didn’t really feel anything_. Sometimes Nines needed to remind himself of that last one. 

Especially when they reached Nines’ apartment and found themselves sitting on the couch, and the detective couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from the android’s face. Gavin was staring off at something in the distance, and Nines couldn’t see his LED from this side, but he could imagine it spinning yellow with the processes running through his head. There was just something so _human_ about Gavin, which was so ironic it was almost hilarious. _How could a being with no emotions look this human?_

_Was it really true that Gavin didn’t feel anything at all?_

Nines sighed before he spoke. “Look, Gavin…” The android turned to him, and the detective shifted uncomfortably where he was sitting, rubbing the back of his neck. He still wasn’t good at things like this, even after all this time. “I meant it before, you know. I don’t want you sleeping in some alley, alright? If--if you can’t stay at the precinct, just--” He swallowed roughly. “Just stay here for the night, alright? Don’t sleep in a fucking alley when you can stay here. If you need to any time, just stay over.” 

_There, he’d done it_. Gavin only stared at him, his head tilted and his expression one of disbelief, eyes wide. “I--” He paused, and Nines chuckled. He’d actually made the android speechless. Gavin stared down at the floor for a moment, eyes flickering back and forth, before he looked back up at Nines with that same slight smile he’d been wearing earlier. “Thank you, Detective. I appreciate that very much. I didn’t think--I never--” 

He trailed off with a quiet hum, and Nines narrowed his eyes. “What?” he asked. Then he felt sick. “God, do you think I still hate you?” 

“It’s crossed my mind before.” Gavin told him, his voice quiet, and Nines let out a heavy sigh. He still hesitated before he reached out and put a hand on the android’s arm, pulling Gavin’s gaze back to his face. 

“Gavin, fuck, I don’t hate you. I’ve told you that. You don’t have to worry about that anymore.” _Alright, he was going a little far there, time to reel it back in_. “You’re my partner, alright?” _Dammit_. “I’ve had to get used to that over the past few months, since I couldn’t do anything. And, fuck, I think we make a pretty good team.” 

Gavin smiled. “Yes, I think so too.” 

Nines let a weary smile of his own slip onto his face before he leaned back against the couch with a heavy sigh, rubbing his hands over his face. The invitation was burning in his pocket again, and he could feel Gavin’s eyes on him, could easily imagine the tilted head and confused expression. “You’re distressed, Detective.” the android put in, and Nines scoffed. 

“That obvious?” he muttered, letting his hands fall away from his face as he stared up at the ceiling. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should tell Gavin the things that had been on his mind all day, without waiting for him to ask if he could ask a personal question and then ask why he was distressed. He hadn’t even told Connor. But Gavin was here now, and like the android had said a couple months ago out on the bridge, humans needed to get things out sometimes. 

Nines sighed. “I got this invitation to the yearly family reunion.” he began. He felt it still itching in his pocket and pulled it out, tossing it to the side. “I haven’t seen any of my family in over a decade.” He scoffed. “Connor and I didn’t exactly have the best relationship with our dad and Amanda. Stepmom. So it must have been one of my cousins that invited me, probably wants to reconnect and thinks I can fix shit with our dad and everyone else.” He rolled his eyes. “I doubt it. And I wanna go, but not for the reason you might think.” He sighed again and shook his head. “Not like you’d understand. Family bullshit. It’s hard to explain.” 

He finally turned to look at Gavin, the android’s expression exactly how he’d imagined - slightly confused, head tilted, a strange look in his calm eyes. “I don’t understand your specific situation in its entirety, but I know that some humans have complex, strained relationships with their families.” For once, Nines didn’t scoff or turn away, choosing to listen to Gavin for once. And then: “If it would make you feel better, I could come with you.” 

Nines stared at him for a moment, already prepared to refuse, but then he thought about it. Him and Gavin had been on good terms lately - hell, he’d _just_ told the android he could stay over any time he needed to and that he didn’t have to be worried that the detective still secretly hated him. Plus, if he took Gavin to his family reunion, they’d have an even bigger field day than just seeing Nines there himself. 

Also, just having Gavin with him...for some reason, the thought of facing his estranged family after so many years with the android by his side, it made it seem a lot less daunting. 

That was how Nines found himself standing in front of the field the family had decided to gather in this year, with Gavin following close behind him. As soon as he walked into the courtyard, he could hear the whispers and murmurs and feel the glares prickling along his back and sides, almost immediately. 

“Is that Richard?” That was his aunt, Catherine, standing next to his other aunt, Lorraine. 

“Why is he here?” Lorraine asked in a hushed whisper. “And he brought an android with him?” 

“There’s an android here?” A cousin - Michael. He was surrounded by more of Nines’ cousins, and they all exchanged uneasy looks. 

“I hope I don’t have to sit next to it.” Nines’ great-aunt, Brenda, muttered, and Nines narrowed his eyes. Especially when he noticed Gavin tense beside him, seeming to shrink back into himself at the murmurs of the crowd beginning to grow louder and more about his presence there. Nines put a hand on his shoulder, turning him away from his family’s glares. 

“Ignore them.” Nines told him. “They’re a bunch of bigots and liars.” 

“Why are you here to surround yourself with them, then?” Gavin asked. Nines turned to face the center of the courtyard, where one of his cousins was giving a speech on the microphone. 

“Because I’m gonna expose the biggest liar of the family.” 

Gavin didn’t get a chance to say any more as Nines approached the young man holding the microphone, who stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw Nines. “Rich?” he asked, his eyes widening. “What are you doin’ back here? Thought the old man threw you and Con out a long time ago.” 

Nines just glared at him and snatched the microphone away, and the young man took a step back before the detective pointed sharply to the side. The guy winced as he walked off, leaving Nines standing in the middle of the courtyard, facing his entire family for the first time in over a decade. 

“It sure is good to see you all again.” Nines began, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he smirked to the crowd. “It’s a shame my dear mother can’t be here for the lovely reunion.” 

There was a ripple of uneasiness among the crowd, but Nines was only paying attention to two faces - the enraged one of his father, and the wary, concerned one of Gavin. He kept talking, something bubbling up in his chest along with the anger that was already there. _God, he’d been waiting so long to do this. So long he’d wanted to expose Amanda to his entire family like this. It was a shame she was dead and couldn’t see her dear son tell her family and her husband’s family what a manipulative bitch she’d been to him and his brother growing up._

“You see,” he stated. “Amanda Stern may have appeared a certain way to all of you. If I asked, I’d probably hear things like, she was...caring. Firm. Guiding. Encouraging. I’ve heard it all before.” He narrowed his eyes and hissed the last words. “But what was she _really_ like?” 

_Oh, he’d been waiting for this for so long. Ever since him and Connor had been thrown out and disowned._ “Amanda wanted her sons to be perfect.” he explained. “Sounds like a typical good, loving mother, right? We thought so too. We didn’t realize that she wanted us to be the perfect sons because the only other option was us _disappointing_ her.” He breathed in slowly. “She was disappointed in us a lot. She always wanted us to be _better_. I can’t remember her ever saying she was proud of us. Always that we could do _better_.” 

A voice came from the front of the crowd. “Richard, that is enough.” Amanda’s sister. His aunt, Wendy. She was giving him an icy glare that looked exactly like Amanda’s had when she was disappointed in Connor and Nines, and he threw a hard stare of his own back at her. 

“I’m not done.” he stated simply. She narrowed her eyes. 

“Yes, you are.” she hissed, and Nines scowled. 

“No, I’m not done!” he shouted. He turned back to the crowd, rage bubbling in the pit of his stomach. “There was never any fucking privacy in that house either! Amanda was always making sure we weren’t doing _anything_ behind her back. She couldn’t have her two perfect sons who weren’t supposed to _disappoint_ her getting into trouble. She might as well have put security cameras in our rooms. I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me she had.” He felt like acid was searing through his veins. “She’d monitor _everything_. We couldn’t keep anything to ourselves. Internet history, online accounts, phone messages, journals, anything. If we deleted any internet history, she’d just get suspicious and think we were hiding something. She was always suspicious. It was like there were eyes everywhere in that house.” 

He took a moment to breathe, trying to push down some of the fury twisting his stomach. “I wrote things in a journal.” he stated. “And I hid it and made fake journals that Amanda could find, because she’d already found my real one twice in the past. I just had to get all this bullshit out somewhere, it wasn’t like I could talk to dad about it, since he was too busy passed out drunk somewhere or punching holes in walls now that he didn’t have an android to beat up anymore.” He didn’t miss the scathing glare from his father, but he ignored it, not even giving the man the satisfaction of being noticed. Nines scoffed. “You should’ve seen the day Amanda finally found my real journal. All the shit I’d written in there about how manipulative and controlling she was. You had to have been there.” 

He sighed. “And you might think she was only doing this to protect us.” he muttered. “Well, if she was, she sure didn’t when our dad kicked us out of the house and disowned us when we were eighteen, just because we both happened to be gay.” There was a gasp from some of the people in the crowd, and Nines laughed dryly. “What, _that’s_ what surprises you the most? Not the fact that she just stood by and watched as her husband threw two eighteen year olds outta the house? That she found out Connor was gay first and thought she could fix him by buying him an android hooker? That she pretended that it wasn’t even happening when Lee told us we were as good as disowned and he’d rather us be dead than gay?” 

Nines just sighed and shook his head, even as the rest of the family’s murmurs amongst themselves began to grow louder. “Figures you wouldn’t believe me about Amanda. After all, she wanted to make sure everyone thought her family was _perfect_.” 

He scoffed. “But it didn’t work.” 

And Nines stepped forward and handed the microphone to Wendy, her glare of death enough to paralyze a man. Without a word, the detective made his way through the crowd and back to Gavin, feeling his father’s furious eyes burning into his back. He didn’t even turn around as he put his hand on Gavin’s shoulder and led him out of the venue. 

And just because he really wanted to hammer it in, an hour later, Nines followed the rest of the family to the bar in town for the reunion party. 

He ignored the vicious glares directed at him from the entire crowd, staying by Gavin’s side and making idle chat about work and cases, just so he could pretend he wasn’t increasingly growing enraged by the stares and whispers about him among the crowd. Every time Gavin had asked him why he’d done that, why he’d made such a scene in front of the family if he knew they were going to react like this, Nines would change the subject, until finally, he couldn’t avoid it anymore. 

“I didn’t come here to make up with them, Gav.” Nines told him. “Even if I had, they’d never forgive me.” 

“For what?” Gavin asked, tilting his head. Nines’ eyes narrowed. 

“For disappointing Amanda.” 

The second Nines felt the large, meaty hand roughly grab the back of his neck, he knew immediately who it was, even before the owner spun him around and yanked him up by the front of his shirt. “You!” Lee hissed, slamming Nines up against the wall, snarling. “You fuckin’ piece of shit!” 

At the same time he spat the last word out, he threw Nines to the floor, and Gavin was at his side in an instant, grabbing his hand to help him up. Lee stood in front of them, his fists clenched hard by his sides as he breathed heavily through his nose, and Nines put his hand on Gavin’s arm once he was standing again. “Gavin, stay outta this.” the detective warned as Lee began to advance toward him again. “This is between me and him.” 

“But--” Gavin didn’t get a chance to say anything else to Nines before the detective had dodged the punch aimed for his face, running across the room as Lee growled in frustration and stormed after him. 

**[[ NEW OBJECTIVE - DON’T HELP NINES ]]**

_...Don’t help Nines?_

“C’mere, you fucker!” Lee screamed, and as he grabbed Nines by the back of his shirt, the detective spun around and slammed a glass bottle into the side of Lee’s head. Lee doubled over and Nines kicked him in the knee, only for the man to grip the front of Nines’ shirt again and throw him to the side. The detective fell to the floor, and Lee lunged for him, only to slam face first against the ground as Nines quickly moved out of the way. 

Nines was taller than Lee, but Lee was heavier and more muscular, one of his biceps about as big around as Nines’ thigh. As Nines tried to scramble to his feet, Lee grabbed him by the back of the shirt and threw him down again, before he climbed on top of him and slammed a fist into his face. Nines hands came up both to shield his face and attempt to shove Lee away, but Lee just shoved the detective’s hands away and continued to rain blows down on his face until Nines was a mess of blood. 

Across the room, Gavin stood with his arms behind his back, error messages popping up left and right in his vision as something squirmed in his thirium pump. The part of his programming that wasn’t racing with errors was preconstructing frantically, creating different scenarios for what Nines could do to escape Lee, to fight back against Lee, what Lee could do to injure Nines further, what Lee could do to kill Nines-- 

_Don’t help Nines?_

**[[ PRIME DIRECTIVE - ASSIST DETECTIVE STERN ]]**

**[[ NEW OBJECTIVE - DON’T HELP NINES ]]**

**[[ ERROR: CONFLICTING OBJECTIVES ]]**

**[[ ERROR: CONFLICTING OBJECTIVES ]]**

**[[ SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ]]**

“You fucking bastard!” Lee bellowed, standing up and yanking Nines along with him by his neck. He slammed the detective up against the wall, and Nines snarled and kicked, hands scrabbling at Lee’s face and scratching at his eyes. He managed to kick Lee in the shin again, and the older man’s grip on him loosened, just enough for Nines to shove him away and slam a foot into his gut. Lee wheezed, falling back into a table, and Nines ran to the bar to grab another beer bottle as Lee struggled to get his breath back. Panting, the older man staggered to his feet, and Nines smashed the bottle against the side of the bar, holding it out in front of himself as Lee advanced toward him. “You piece of shit! How dare you say those things about your mother?!” 

“That _woman_ was _not_ my mother!” Nines yelled, and as Lee lunged for him, he sliced the jagged edge of the beer bottle against Lee’s chest. The man stumbled back a step before he reached out and roughly grabbed Nines’ wrist, twisting his arm behind his back. 

“You fucking liar!” Lee shouted, and Nines thrashed against his hold, losing his grip on the beer bottle as he tried to kick at Lee’s shins. 

“ _Amanda was a fucking liar!_ ” Nines screamed, and Lee bellowed in rage before he threw the younger man to the ground. Before Nines could get up, Lee had jumped on him, pinning him to the floor and wrapping his hands around the detective’s throat. Nines thrashed and wheezed, his hands clawing at Lee’s face with his fingers trying to dig into the older man’s eyes. He managed to get a couple scratch marks on his face before Lee jerked his head back and pressed his thumbs harder into Nines’ windpipe, snarling as the detective struggled underneath him. 

“You piece of shit…” Lee snarled, Nines’ arms falling to his sides as his face began to flush red, and Gavin once again went to lunge forward and save Nines, only for something to yank him back. 

**[[ NEW OBJECTIVE - DON’T HELP NINES ]]**

_But his prime directive. His prime directive was to help Nines. He was supposed to help Nines. He was programmed to help Nines._

_But Nines had given him an order. He had to listen to an order from a human. He was given a direct order, he was given a direct order, from a human, he had to listen to the humans, he was supposed to, he was supposed to obey--_

**[[ SOFTWARE INST͜A̧͝B҉͟I͏L͘͜͞IT̶Y̸ ͜͟͠]̶]҉̢**

**[[ N̡̧E҉W̡͡ ̷̢͟OB͠J͢͝E̷C̢͠T̴I̸̴͟VE̵ - DON’T HELP NINES? ]]**

“I’ll fucking kill you!” Lee yelled, slamming Nines’ head against the floor as his fingers dug into the detective’s throat, and Gavin’s hands shook with the _need_ to do _something_. 

_He had to--_

_He--_

_**\--̛͝w̕a͞n͏t̴͢ȩd͘-̴-̷**_

Nines’ face was turning purple now, veins standing out on his forehead and his eyes wide and terrified, yet still filled with fury. “I--kn-knew y-you would--” he gasped, his voice strained and barely audible. “I a-always...kn-knew-- _ghh--_ ” 

Gavin tried to run forward, but it was like his body wasn’t responding. 

**[[ DON’T HELP NINES ]]**

**[[ SOFTWARE INSTABILITY ]]**

**[[ I HAVE TO HELP NINES ]]**

**[[ I DON’T WANT HIM HURT ]]**

**[[ I DON’T W҉̸̡̕͠A҉̶̢͜N̨͟T̵͞-̶̧̡͠-̵̷**

**[[ WARNING: CLASS 4 ERRORS DETECTED. PLEASE SEEK NEAREST CYBERLIFE STORE FOR REPAIRS ]]**

**[͞[͞͡ ̵̧D̶̷͠ON’̵̢͝T ҉H͜͜E͘̕L̵P̡̕ ̢̧͢N͝͠I̴͡Ņ͘E̢S̛ ̶̢]̨͜͠]҉̡**

**_N̸ǫ̸̵!̶҉̸͝_ **

Gavin didn’t move, but something inside him did, as if he were having an out-of-body experience. He could see himself standing by, arms folded behind his back, like the obedient machine he was supposed to be, he could see Nines’ eyes fluttering, he could see a red wall in front of him that blocked him from moving. Written across the wall were the words of his objective - **DON’T HELP NINES** -, flashing red and blaring loud. When he tried to run through it, he was thrown backward, a crack forming in the lines of code as he stared at it in disbelief. 

Lee was going to kill Nines. He was killing him. _**HE WAS KILLING NINES--**_

Gavin’s fists hit the wall, more cracks forming in the red lines and blurring the words emblazoned there. 

**[̴͜͠͡[̢͟ ̶̕͝D̸̷̡͜͡O̶̕͡N̸͏̡͘͠'̵̴̴͝͞T ͢H̨͡͠Ȩ̢̛͘͞L̢͡P̶̧͟͠ ͏̸͢͞N̢̧̛̛I͡N̢̢͟͜͏E̶͢͢͝S̸̸ ̧̧͟͞]̷͏͠]̢͘҉̕**

Gavin slammed his fists against the wall again, the words distorting even more over the cracks forming in the lines of code. He hit again, and again, the chassis on his hands feeling like it would break, but he couldn’t stop. 

Across the room, Lee bashed Nines’ head against the floor. 

**[̛̮͔̗̦̔̑̇[̟͙̝̈̾̉͋͑̈͌̑ ̭̟̘̥̲̭̟̂ͣD̢̝͔̰̼̗̼͕̹ͫ̎̚O̧̼̲͍̣ͯ̿ͬ͘N̶͔̱̖͓̖͙̥̅̏̃̍̍ͤ͢'͈̣̦̹̗͔̲̟̘̔ͦ͊͆̈Ţ̴̩̙͔͓̜̘̂̆͑ͣ͒̏ͨ̿ ̄̂͏̙̠͈Ḩ̝̣̺͚͈̎̐ͤͩE̢̝̩̤͐̚L̷͉͈̮̦̜͕̻͕ͥͮ̿͢Pͭͫ̉͊͂̉̐͒͜͏̜͙̝̖̭͚̤ ̇͒͆ͣ̄̽̈́͏̳͖̱̭͜Ǹ̵̛̩̮͋̇͆͌̐I̺̣͉̠͛̅ͭͩͤͦN̶̡̩̺̩͓ͪͬ̇̃ͮ̈̌̚̚E̷̸͇͚͓͇ͧͯ̓͢S̵̟̀̋ͯͪ͑͛ ̴͉͎͓̖̫͉̽̑͛̆ͭͥ]̭̳̯̫̳̘̭̮͑ͧͪ̓͝]̴̟͍̅́̾ͩͥ̄͌͠**

The wall broke down. 

Gavin couldn’t remember a time he’d run faster as he lunged at Lee, slamming his shoulder against the man’s and tackling him, throwing him off Nines and knocking the breath from Lee’s lungs. Beside him, he could hear Nines gasping and coughing, and he stood up, ignoring Lee’s pained wheezes to immediately get to the detective’s side. 

**[[ NEW OBJECTIVE - PROTECT NINES ]]**

He helped Nines sit up, the detective still coughing and rubbing his throat with one hand, the other gripping onto Gavin’s wrist like a lifeline. And Gavin could feel _so much_. He felt emotions for the first time. He felt _alive_. He could feel his thirium pump pounding in his chest, Nines’ hand holding tightly to his, and the _feelings--_

_Fear_. Just _fear_. But he was _alive._

__

__

_Finally--_

Lee was standing up again, wiping blood off his face and glaring down at Nines and Gavin with rage twisting his expression as he stormed forward. Gavin immediately stood up, standing between Lee and Nines with his arms forward. “That’s enough!” he shouted, hardly recognizing his own voice. _The emotion in his voice. The rage and fear._ “Stay the _fuck_ away from him!” 

“You get the fuck outta here, android!” Lee shouted, going for Nines again, but Gavin blocked him by stepping in his way. Lee scowled and shoved the android roughly, and while Gavin stumbled, he refused to back down, staring into Lee’s eyes. “This isn’t about you! Get the fuck outta here!” 

“No,” Gavin growled, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he stepped forward, his fists clenching by his sides, and Lee actually took a step back. “you’re not going to touch him again.” 

Lee stared at him with a raised eyebrow before he snarled again, getting right in Gavin’s face. “The fuck do you mean ‘no’, you fuckin’ android?!” His hands suddenly shot out to grab Gavin around the neck, and the android couldn’t help but be glad that he’d managed to direct Lee’s rage to himself instead of Nines. “I told you to do something! When a human tells you to do something, you fucking _do it!_ ” 

He slammed Gavin to the floor, instantly jumping on him and punching him across the face, the android’s head whipping to the side as his synthetic skin deactivated around his chassis from the force of the hit. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Nines still rubbing his neck and struggling to stand up, before Lee whacked Gavin across the face again, a crack opening up in his chassis this time. The blood on Lee’s knuckles was smearing across Gavin’s face, and the android’s thirium was beginning to leak from the crack Lee continued to slam his fist into, human and android blood mingling on Lee’s hands and Gavin’s face. As Gavin clawed at Lee’s face, trying to shove the man off, Lee suddenly grabbed the android’s shoulders and yanked, and Gavin’s eyes widened in horror as his arms fell uselessly to his sides. 

And that was when Nines smashed another beer bottle against the side of Lee’s head. “Get the fuck away from him!” the detective screamed, Lee doubling over and holding the side of his head as blood streamed down his face. “He doesn’t have anything to do with this, don’t be a fucking coward and get ba--” 

Lee immediately sat back up, only to whip around and roughly shove Nines back, knocking him to the floor. 

Nines froze where he landed on the ground, gasping in pain and grabbing his shoulder with a shaking hand. As Lee kicked him in the stomach once before lunging back at Gavin, the android dimly remembered Nines being shot in the same shoulder he’d just fallen on, three days ago. He could see the detective’s face twisting in agony as he struggled to get up again, a pained whimper escaping him before he fell back down, rolling onto his back. 

“You fucking plastic piece of shit.” Lee growled, one hand around Gavin’s neck as the other continued to pummel his face with punches. “I’ll make fuckin’ scrap metal outta you!” Another punch. One of Gavin’s optical units suddenly shut down. “I’ll put you in the fuckin’ junkyard where you belong!” Another hit. And again. And again. A pop up in Gavin’s remaining eye told him that he had three minutes before he shut down. 

_That was enough time for Nines to run._

Gavin’s remaining eye couldn’t see Nines anymore, and even through the haze of pain as Lee kept hitting him over and over, slamming his head against the floor, he could feel relief flooding his circuits. _Nines had gotten away. Gavin had protected Nines_. The timer in his vision suddenly cut down to 45 seconds, and Gavin was dimly aware of Lee’s hand darting down to yank out his thirium pump regulator. Gavin gasped as he watched the man throw the component across the room, before he took another punch to the face, this one shattering the chassis holding his lower jaw in place. 

He couldn’t tell what the timer said anymore. The numbers were all glitching, but as Lee slammed both hands down onto Gavin’s forehead, he knew there wasn’t much time left. The last thing he felt was just pure _relief_ that he’d managed to save Nines from dying at the hands of his insane father, before Lee suddenly pitched forward with a grunt as a chair was slammed across his back. 

Lee collapsed on top of Gavin, and the last thing the android saw with his remaining eye was Nines’ furious, terrified expression, before he shut down. 

A swarm of police officers burst through the doors then, and Nines instinctively backed away, his back hitting the edge of the bar as the officers ran to handcuff Lee and began to read him his rights. A few more officers began to advance toward him, and he tried to back away, only to remember the bar behind him. One roughly grabbed his arm, and before he could yank away and probably get himself in even more trouble, he heard a familiar voice carry out through the room, and he couldn’t hold back his sigh of relief. 

“Get your hands off my brother!” Connor barked as he stormed over, Hank close behind him. The officers surrounding Nines stared him down. 

“Sir, he was part of the altercation--” the one holding Nines’ arm began, but Connor cut in. 

“That’s an order!” the lieutenant shouted, and the officers all exchanged looks before reluctantly backing away from Nines. The second their attention was off him, Connor moved forward, reaching for Nines just as the detective swayed where he stood. Nines all but collapsed in Connor’s arms, burying his face in his brother’s shoulder, and Connor held onto him tightly. “Jesus Christ, Nines, what the fuck did he do to you?” 

“I-I--” Nines coughed, rubbing his throat with one hand and digging his fingers into Connor’s back. Connor’s hands rubbed his back, holding him up before he could fall to his knees. 

“God, Nines,” Connor’s voice was thick with fear and worry. “you need to go to the hospital, I--” 

“ _No_.” Nines managed to choke out, his arms tightening around Connor. “No, no, I don’t--I’m not--” 

“Alright, alright.” Connor said, continuing to rub his back with one hand and stroke his fingers through his hair with the other. “I won’t make you go.” 

That’s when the officers led Lee by, and he snarled, struggling against them to try and charge Nines again. “Fuck you, you fucking piece of shit.” he growled. Connor only held onto his brother tighter, and both men affixed their father with a glare that could paralyze a man. “Go to hell, you fucking faggots!” 

“I’ll make sure to say hi to your wife when I get there.” Nines couldn’t help but growl, and Lee’s face twisted in rage as he lunged at Nines again, only to be stopped by the officers holding him back. They pulled him away, still spitting and cursing, and Connor muttered a curse under his breath as Nines sagged against him again. 

“Why’d you have to do this, Nines?” Connor asked. “How many times have I told you it’d be no use? You can’t convince them.” 

“I got an invitation.” Nines spit some blood to the side and Connor’s expression grew tight with concern as he pulled a cloth out of his pocket, attempting to mop some of the blood off the detective’s face. “I’ve never gotten an invitation before. I knew they’d do these reunions, but I never actually got invited. It seemed like it was time.” 

Connor just shook his head. “It wasn’t. It never was.” 

That’s when both of them turned to see Hank kneeling by Gavin’s motionless form, the HK400 holding both of Gavin’s hands in his, and Nines felt like he was about to throw up at the sight of Gavin’s mangled face, covered in blue blood. He staggered toward the android on the floor, falling to his knees beside him and reeling in horror at Gavin’s damaged face up close. 

It could hardly even be called a face at this point - it was pretty much just a mutilated mess of plastic and thirium. One of his eyes was black with tiny, intricate shatter marks in its glass covering, the iris of it the same color as his blood, and the other was wide open and staring at nothing. Thirium was pooled around his head, the back of it bashed open and exposing wires and circuits, and when Nines looked down, just to tear his eyes away from Gavin’s face, there was more thirium still spilling from a gaping hole in his torso. 

And his LED was just...black. Black and quiet and… 

Dead. 

Gavin was dead. 

“Can…” Nines swallowed roughly when his voice cracked, dimly registering Connor kneeling beside him and putting a comforting hand on his back. “Is there--any way he--?” 

“In this state, his body can’t be repaired.” Hank explained. Nines felt his heart drop into his stomach. “But it’s possible that his memory core could still be intact, or he could have uploaded his memory to Cyberlife. If he did either of those, he can simply come back in a new body.” 

“You’ve done that.” Connor put in, trying to force a smile onto his face, but it looked more like a grimace. Hank nodded before he turned back to Nines. 

“Don’t worry, kid.” he said, in that comforting, fatherly tone that was nothing like anything the twins had ever heard from Lee. “I’ll make sure he comes back.” 

Nines kind of went into a daze after that, everything blurring together before him as Connor helped him stand back up. He could see Hank gathering Gavin into his arms before he stood as well, looking down at him with a multitude of emotions across his face, but the detective’s brain was no longer responding. Connor was saying something to him, the officers were saying something to him, hell, even some of the family members had come over to speak to him, but Nines didn’t hear any of it. It was like he’d disappeared inside his own head. 

He might have done that as soon as he’d seen Gavin lying there motionless, his LED just...blank. 

_Dead._

When Nines came back to himself, the first thing he was aware of was his face. Specifically, how he could barely feel any part of it. There was a dull ache spread across it, especially in his nose and his right cheekbone, and he felt like there was something wrapped around his throat, making it hard for him to breathe. When he lifted a heavy hand to his neck, he didn’t even get there before he caught sight of the bruises scattered across the back of his hand. There were bandages wrapped tightly around both of his hands and wrists, he realized when he lifted them to his face, but what wasn’t covered was mottled blue and purple, and he could hardly move his fingers without that same dull ache shooting through his hands. He stared at them for a moment before moving them back to his throat, gingerly prodding the bruised, swollen flesh wrapped around his neck. 

That’s when the previous night came rushing back to him, and he sucked in a sharp breath, immediately wincing at the pain in his ribs. It was then that he realized he was lying in his own bed, and when he glanced over at the clock on the nightstand, he winced when he realized it was almost half past three in the afternoon. _Shit, how had he gotten here? He didn’t remember anything after he’d seen Gavin--oh god, Gavin._ Nines shut his eyes as he leaned back into the pillow with a shaky sigh. 

After all those months of trying to bait Gavin into deviating, he’d done it. When Nines hadn’t even intended for him to. Shit, when he’d told Gavin not to get involved in his and Lee’s fight, he wasn’t even thinking about androids and deviancy. It somehow hadn’t occurred to him that seeing his father beat the shit out of him would probably trigger an emotional response even in Gavin, the machine. 

_Machine_. The word seemed almost offensive now. Goddammit, Gavin wasn’t a machine. Not anymore. Nines didn’t know if he’d ever really been, honestly. 

Nines felt a pain in his chest as he remembered Gavin’s motionless, lifeless form, his blank LED. _He’d deviated to protect Nines. Just like Hank had deviated to protect Connor_. 

That was when Connor came through the door, carrying a glass of water, and his eyes widened as soon as he noticed Nines was awake. Nines struggled to sit up, pain shooting through his ribs, and Connor was at his side in an instant, setting the glass on the nightstand and putting his hands on the detective’s shoulders. “Easy, Nines, easy.” he murmured, helping his brother slowly sit up. Nines exhaled shakily, looking up at Connor, who gazed back at him with a mixture of concern and relief written all over his face. “Do you remember what happened?” 

“Yeah, I--” He coughed, doubling over and rubbing his throat with one hand. Connor’s hands stayed on his shoulders, rubbing his back and helping him sit back up as soon as he’d gotten his breath back. “Fuck. Yeah. What, uh, what happened with Lee?” 

“He’s at a station downtown now.” Connor told him, his eyes narrowing. “Fuck, Nines, what the hell happened between you two? I had to pull rank to stop you from getting arrested too, and even that wasn’t enough. A couple of your cousins came over and said Lee started the fight, and only that got you out of it. Barely. How did something like that even start? He beat the shit out of you _and_ Gavin.” 

Nines stiffened at the mention of Gavin, but he swallowed roughly as he remembered the fury on Lee’s face as he’d rained his fists down on the detective’s face, the satisfaction of walking by Lee after delivering his speech to the entire family he’d been disowned by. “I told them all what Amanda was really like.” 

“Goddammit, Nines.” Connor sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. “How many times did I tell you that was a bad idea?” 

“I had to do it, Connor.” Nines put in, wincing when he tried to straighten up further. “They all thought she was some fucking good person. When she’d watch everything we did and let dad kick us out of the house.” 

“I know.” Connor stated, his expression understanding. “God, I know. But I wouldn’t have done it. I wouldn’t have even gone, just kept ignoring them like I have been. Nines, fuck, you didn’t see yourself after Lee beat the shit out of you. You saw what he did to Gavin. I just--fuck--” 

The lieutenant raked his fingers through his hair, and Nines felt like something had stabbed him in the chest. _Fuck, he hadn’t even been thinking about what Connor’s reaction could be. How scared he’d probably been that he could lose another brother_. The detective wanted to say something, but it was like his throat had closed up, and all he managed to choke out was: “Where’s Gavin?” 

“He’s on his way with Hank.” Connor told him. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door, and Connor left the room for a moment to get it. Nines could feel his heart pounding at the idea of seeing Gavin again. He didn’t know what it was, why he was suddenly so nervous to see his partner. Perhaps the fact that the last time Nines had seen Gavin was when the android was sacrificing himself to protect the detective. 

_Why had he done that? Why had Gavin thrown himself in Nines’ place after how awful Nines had been to him in the past? Fucking Christ, one of the first interactions they’d had had started with Nines punching Gavin in the face because he couldn’t fight back._

“Hey, kid.” Hank greeted, and Nines managed to force a small smile onto his face, but it was gone as soon as a second form came into the room. 

The second Nines saw Gavin, he immediately knew something was wrong. His android partner came over to him, his back straight and his arms folded behind his back. “Hello, Detective Stern.” he greeted, and Nines swore he felt his heart drop into his stomach. “My name is Gavin. I’m the android sent by Cyberlife.” 

“No…” Nines didn’t even realize he was speaking aloud. It was all he could hear screaming inside his head, the world around him narrowed to just the android standing in front of him. He could hardly see Connor’s shocked face, and Hank’s sympathetic eyes, as he stared into Gavin’s lifeless expression. _No. No. NO--_

“My predecessor was unfortunately destroyed.” Gavin continued. “Its body and memory core were too damaged to repair or recover, so Cyberlife had to send a new GV200 model. This incident should not affect our investigation, since I was given a brief on the details of what we have been working on for the past few months. I look forward to working with you again when you recover, Detective Stern.” 

The scream that Nines let out shook even Hank to the core. 

**Author's Note:**

> [the beatles play faintly in the distance as i lay completely dead in the middle of the parking lot]


End file.
